Well the tops and bottoms of MLB teams reported today. Should be getting some televised games soon. So discuss. Also post signings and all that crap in here now.

WOOOO! BASEBALL SEASON IS HERE AGAIN!

(dances) Hopefully the Yankees don't suck again like they did the first 3 months of last season, and maybe the D-Rays will get some good pitching other than Kazmir. With at least 2 good starters behind him in the rotation, they could break even at 81-81 I think.

When does ESPN usually release their schedule for televised spring training games? Or is it already out?

Here's my thoughts:

AL East: I have no idea. Honestly, it could be Boston, New York, or even Toronto. Just thinking about it makes my head hurt.

AL Central: Chicago. They'll have to collapse pretty damn well to lose out.

AL West: Angels: With Weaver freshly signed, their staff is even better, and they have a good lineup and a terrific bullpen. I see them running away with this one.

NL East: Mets. As much as I hesitate to hedge against the Braves, the Mets have improved beyond all recognition. It's going to be hard to beat them.

NL Central: Cards. Even though they had a stagnant offseason, the Cards are still the best team in the division. The Astros aren't any better and will be worse without Clemens, and the Cubs and Brewers are a couple of healthy pitchers and a year away from challenging for the crown.

NL West: Oh man. Probably the Dodgers, just because I can't see the Padres having enough to make the title again, but I'm not going to rule them out.

I don't know. The Yankees have the same shitty pitching they did last season and I doubt Chacon and Wang play like they did last year. Plus deadweight like Wright and Pavano are still around. Bernie Williams at DH is also pretty shitty if they stick to that.

LA Dodgers vs. Atlanta is already listed on ESPN's website. March 3rd, 1 pm according to them. Nothing else is listed.

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Angels
AL Wildcard: White Sox

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cards
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wildcard: Astros

I don't think Lo Duca and Delgado are going to really make any impact for them. Delgado gets hurt constantly and Lo Duca is the most overrated bottom in the Majors.

Plus they're the fucking Mets. I wouldn't be surprised if they finished last in NL East, BEHIND the Marlins.

Oh yeah, wildcards. I think the AL is probably an AL East team, and the NL is the Braves.

Adam Dunn is going to try his hand at first base this year. Should be interesting having Willy Mo Pena in the lineup constantly. I wish they'd fucking get rid of Kearns though. That asshole Crisp just had to axe that trade.

I'm giving Pavano another chance because of the fact he had to change leagues and people usually have a tougher time their first year as a Yankee. Wang is good, but not great, so he'll do the same as last year, and Chacon will be a much better choice than Wright, who'll be stuck in the bullpen.

Bernie as DH is no problem, since you have a pretty stacked lineup of speed and power everywhere else. Damon/Jeter as the 1-2 part of the lineup is probably the best in baseball, A-Rod is in the prime of his career, Shef can still hit hard despite his age, Matsui is still very productive and Giambi is a question mark again. The only downside of the lineup is Posada and Bernie, but that's still much better than the average lineup.


My picks...
AL East: NY Yankees
AL Central: Chicago White Sox
AL West: LA Angels
Wild Card: Toronto Blue Jays

NL East: Atlanta Braves
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals
NL West: LA Dodgers
Wild Card: NY Mets

I'll have to start listening to Home Plate on XM more now that the season is drawing near.

The problem with Pavano is that he wasn't that great to begin with. He was an average pitcher that got picked up because of one good season.

That's still better than Javier Vazquez, who hasn't had ONE good year, and is still passed around in the No. 1 & 2 starter roles.

Most teams don't have a true number one.

Man, Florida's lineup is pathetic. Yahoo can't even list a center field for them yet. Here's what they've got for starters:

C - Josh Willingham
1B - Mike Jacobs
2B - Pokey Reese
3B - Miguel Cabrera
LF - Chris Aguila
CF -
RF - Jeremy Hermida

The Marlins are...

F _ C K E D

Fill in the blank with the available letters: U

Yeah, they're the phoenix of baseball teams. In five years they'll e on their way to the World Series again.

So has Seattle become the Japanese import team. I see they've added Kenji Johjima to the team this year. Oh boy is that name going to be a tongue twister.

:lol: It's funny because it's true. If you asked me in 1998 if I thought the Marlins would ever win a World Series any time soon, I'd have laughed in your face and thrown a Yankees ice cream cake at you.

The Dodgers have a pretty crappy team too:

SP: Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, Odalis Perez, Brett Tomko, Jae Seo
Bullpen: Eric Gagne, Yhency Brazobán, Danys Báez, Lance Carter, Hong-Chih Kuo, Jonathan Broxton

C: Dioneer Navarro
1B: Nomar Garciaparra
2B: Jeff Kent
SS: Rafael Furcal
3B: Bill Mueller
LF: Jose Cruz
CF: Kenny Lofton
RF: J.D. Drew

I have to laugh at S.T. Strickler a bit. The O's have Corey Patterson slated as their starting CF right now.

I've been laughing at Strickler since mid-way through 2005 when the Orioles fucking died. :lol:

It must be a cold world with no soul, Scrooge.

..and just so's ya' know, I'll be taking dumps in the Spring homes of the Cardinals/Marlins, Mets, Orioles, Astros and Nationals. If all goes well, this means that the only Spring field that I haven't taken a dump in is the Red Sox facility in Ft. Myers. But I was in their parking lot once...

You know, I think Washington moving Soriano to LF is a great move. Put him where he can do the least damage on defense. I don't know what I think of their lineup. Soriano, Vidro, Guillen and Johnson are good. Ryan Church is ok. But Guzman and Schneider are the shits. Pitchings kind of :huh:

The Cards?!


Shit.

Problem with moving Soriano is that he's being a :angry: about the whole move. Personally, I think he should go :o a fat one, but he's probably going to make life difficult for them.

I think the Cards took a step back this year. Molina, Miles, Bigbie and Eckstein are going to be holes in the offense. Ponson sucks and Mulder's kind of a wildcard as far as performance.

I've come to the conclusion that Soriano is overrated. He gives you some good power numbers but his OBP is the shits. A career .320 guy..... ouch. Try not swinging at every fucking thing there champ. He also makes at least 19 errors a year as a full time player.

I agree, but not necessarily on all counts. I don't think Eckstein will be a hole in the offense so much, and Miles and Bigbie probably aren't starters; we'll have Spivey and Taguchi, who are still wildcards but have a better chance of success. I agree Ponson sucks, and I'm hoping they just bring Reyes up from AAA ball to pitch instead. And Mulder....yeah. He worries me.

Mulder might still have a good season left but his performance has started to decline slightly.

I'm hoping he has a good season and then they let him go. He'll cost a lot of money, and they'd be better served bringing up a farm pitcher like Wainwright.

Yeah yeah, Scrooge. The O's had a suck-tacular season in '05. Now that Captain Steroid (Palmeiro) and the Strikeout Bum (Sosa) are gone, I'm hoping things will be better for them. They also got rid of Jorge Julio too. If they're lucky, maybe they'll hit .500 this year.

So there's talk of contracting 2 MLB teams for the start of the 2007 season. One of the likely candidates is the Minnesota Twins :(

Others include the Rockies, Royals, D-Rays, and Marlins...

They never should have expanded to those obscure markets like Tampa Bay. Not a good idea.

What the hell is up with Selig wanting to take out the Twins? I'd prefer to have Colorado and Tampa Bay removed, since neither team will ever be worth anything.

Again? This was a big rumor around 2001-2002...when the Twins and Marlins were considered locks for elimination.

I think the Marlins' stadium situation is still in limbo, so if contraction comes up again, they're probably still on the list. Jeffrey Loria wouldn't be against selling the team and running out (again...like he did with the Expos).

Tampa Bay's a mess and a relatively poor attendance draw, so they'd be a consideration. But you have to figure MLB would prefer to have one team in the Florida market.

As for the Rockies....... ss much as I'd hate to see my local window to baseball closed, unless they get new ownership (unlikely), the team is damned. It's not about pitching woes, the altitude or free agency fuck-ups..the team is run by complete clowns. The Monfort brothers have no credentials or respect among other owners. One member of the front office who did have credentials (Walt Jocketty) was booted out in the late 90's and hopped back to St. Louis where he helped stock their teams of the past 5-6 years.

The Rockies appointed a completely unqualified candiate in Keli McGregor as Team President (or whatever his title is). McGregor's claim to fame? He once played tight-end for CSU's football team...and roomed with an owner's son. That's it. In one of McGregor's first public appearances as President, he broke down and cried after introducing himself (I was there... Rockies' winter "Hot stove" fan forum in January 2003). Manager Clint Hurdle and GM Dan O'Dowd both freaked out and stared in disbelief as their "leader" cried after simply saying his own name. Weird moment.

Rest of the afternoon, Hurdle and O'Dowd fielded questions and addressed the issues. McGregor couldn't have given a straight answer if someone had asked him the time. It's been 3 years and the guy is still a loon. He has yet to give an intelligent quote, as he speaks in vague terms and polictical-speak. Like "what we look to do in the future is address those important issues with the proper concern that such issues would require".

After drawing steadily, Rockies' attendance took a nosedive in 2002. Now they only sell seats when teams like the Cubs, Red Sox or Yankees come through. They also made sure to raise ticket prices for those marquee games. Some teams rely on promos to bring in fans. Bobbleheads are usually popular...but the Rockies promos are compelte dogshit: like magnetic schedules, paperclip holders or lapel pins. Honest. Someone might say "hey, they're giving away free umbrellas tonight, let's go!" Who the hell would say "hey, they're giving away a free pack of paperclips tonight, let's go!!"

Other shitty teams like to rely on their history to bring fans in (Pirates and even the Royals do this)...but the Rockies have no history to speak of and the future's not good, either.

I need the Devil Rays! Fuck Selig in his ugly fuck-face cock-sucking ass! And tell him to let Pete Rose in the HoF, or take out anyone else who was a disgrace to baseball or cheated, which would be about 90% of the people in it.

Woohoo. Sporting News had their MLB preview out while I was at Kroger this morning.